


Dopamine Norepinephrine Serotonin

by 221B_johnlock_st



Category: Sherlock (TV), Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms
Genre: Couch Cuddles, Cuddling & Snuggling, Cute, Finished, Fluff, Hair, Love Confessions, M/M, Mentions of drugs, No Mary, Set whenever, Short, not sexual, one chapter, petting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-22
Updated: 2016-11-22
Packaged: 2018-09-01 10:26:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,092
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8620894
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/221B_johnlock_st/pseuds/221B_johnlock_st
Summary: Dopamine is activated by cocaine and nicotine. Norepinephrine in layman's terms is adrenalin. And Serotonin has the ability to send us temporarily insane. and they all just so happen to be the key ingredient to love, a feeling sherlock has been blindly chasing after his whole life apparently.





	

Sherlock was the one who had the knack for noticing the little thing, but that didn’t mean John didn’t notice a few of sherlock's little tikes. He noticed Sherlock's love for Mrs.hudson's pastries. He noticed when Sherlock secretly shot the tv glances when he was watching documentaries. He noticed how the books in the sitting room seemed to be for show, but one or two of the romance novels had been flipped through and moved. Over the course of a year, John managed to pick up on a lot of Sherlock's little habits, but there was only one that John used for his own benefit.

 

He had noticed it his first or second week in the flat actually. Sherlock was on the couch sulking per usual, and John was at his wit's end. Sherlock was being as irritating as ever, and John couldn’t choose between punching him and ignoring him. In one last ditch attempt to get in sherlock's good graces he decided that physical contact might be the answer. He wasn’t sure why, but his gut just told him that for some reason the lonely detective could go for some affection.

 

John walked over the motionless lump and with a sigh he lifted sherlock into a sitting position with little to no fight. After he sat down where sherlock's head had previously been he looked over to the disheveled detective. Sherlock gave him a wary look before laying his head on John's lap with a huff. At first, it wasn’t going as well as John thought it would, sherlock seemed just as irritable and now john was stuck with him, no chance of fleeing. He accepted his fate as mindlessly carded his head through the curly mess on his lap. 

 

John felt sherlock freeze under his touch and he stopped for a moment waiting for another sign to remove his hand altogether. He got the opposite surprisingly. Sherlock lightly leaned into the touch, and John continued to thread his fingers through the curls, and after he got a little more comfortable he began gently scratching against sherlock's scalp. They spent the afternoon without moving.

 

It was a month later before another opportunity arises. It was a particularly stressful case, and unlike the usually post-adrenalin routine which involved two long night of rest for both parties. This time John walked into the sitting room expecting to see it empty but instead there was sherlock sitting ‘casually’ on the couch. Both of them had avoided to couch for the past month and the fact that sherlock was sitting on it all proved as an invitation.neither of them said anything, they just shared a look, and John sat down in the same space he had a month ago and sherlock laid his head on his lap, and thus it became a regular occurrence at 221B to find the pair on the couch with Sherlock’s head resting on John's lap while he played with the locks.

 

John would be lying if he said that the little seasons hadn't’ affected him. He caught himself staring at Sherlock a lot more. Found that when they were close together he felt the need to touch, to feel Sherlock's skin on his. And if they happened to be far apart, John would find himself coming up with an excuse to get closer.

 

He had noticed little things change in Sherlock too. How he let his touches linger. How his eye’s managed to catch his at the most convenient time. This gave a spark of hope to John because maybe sherlock's ruse was more than even he had suspected. He thought he knew the truth behind Sherlock Holmes. The man put on quite the act, with his cold and calculating gaze and heartless remarks. It was all just a show to keep people away. At Least as much as he could. The one thing that John had never even thought to call Bullshit on was Sherlock's view on relationships, not because he didn’t think that the man had a heart, but because of how heavily guarded it was. He had figured that Sherlock would never allow someone to have such a hold on him, but the way his hard gaze melted away when he looked at John, and the enduring insults. They all made him think he had a chance.

 

One afternoon when his head was tangled deep into the detective's hair with his nails running along Sherlock's scalp he decided it was time. He shuffled in his seat and Sherlock hummed in distress.

 

“Sherlock,” He said lightly as he moved to twirling a small curl on his nape around his finger.

 

“Yes, John?” Sherlock's voice was deeper than it was normally was like he had just woken up. In all honesty, he probably had.

 

“Why don’t you do relationships?” John paused his actions and waited, holding his breath.

 

There was a fat pause “Do we need to talk about this now.”

 

“Yes, I’m done dancing around whatever this is. We don’t have to decide about us now, or tomorrow. But I need to know if I have a chance, or if I should pretend like this conversation never happened and find someone else. Would you be okay with being with someone else.” John had meant to take this conversation a lot slower. Had meant to let Sherlock come to his own conclusion. But he was fed up with waiting .

 

“If you must” Sherlock huffed, and seemed to miss the point altogether.

 

“No sherlock, This isn’t about ‘If I must’.  This is about you, how you feel because if I'm honest with you I’m head over heels. I need to know if you could ever be the same.”

 

“Love is just  Dopamine, Norepinephrine, Serotonin,” Sherlock stated, and John’s heart constricted.

 

“Right. Yes, well that’s that then isn’t it.”

 

“John you’re an idiot.”

 

“Yes, Sherlock. I got it. Love is too good for you. Why would someone of your intelligence de overcome by such  _ emotions _ .” The worst part was John couldn’t even stand up. Sherlocks head still resting on his lap

 

“Dopamine is activated by cocaine and nicotine. Norepinephrine in layman's terms is adrenalin. And Serotonin has the ability to send us temporarily insane. You’re an idiot because you are a doctor and you should know this thing.” It took John a moment but he got it.

 

Sherlock Holmes, former cocaine addict. Current nicotine addict. Sherlock Holmes, a man whose job revolves around adrenalin.

 

“You are pretty insane.” John murmured and the both burst into a fit of laughter.


End file.
